I gave them a sheepish smile as the reality of her statement dawned. Unsure if I was feeling uncomfortable or not, I dropped my gaze to the floor.
“Hey, babe.” Tamara tugged my chin upward. “We don’t care who you sleep with or who you love, as long as you’re happy.” She tweaked my nose. “And I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. He’s good for you.”
“I have to agree.”
I half-turned as Sianna stopped next to us. “He’s wonderful, Rayden and I’m so glad you found your better half.” Her smile was genuine.
“Thanks, mom.” I chuckled.
“Oh, hell no. You didn’t just go there.” She scowled making Kyra and Tamara cackle like two wild witches in a coven.
“What?” I pushed, my lips twitching. “You are married to my father.”
“He’s right, mom,” Kyra teased and Sianna’s cheeks flamed hot pink.
“Drake.” She literally stomped her feet, making the three of us hoot with laughter.
My father approached us. “What’s wrong, princess?”
“Your children suck.” She pouted. “They’re calling me mom.”
I glanced at my father, catching the sudden twitch to his lips. “I’ve always taught my children to respect their elders, princess and you are my wife.”
Sianna’s jaw dropped as she glared at my father who rolled his lips to keep from laughing. My sister, aunt and I didn’t bother to hide our laughter. As she turned to walk away, I gripped her arm, stalling her movement.
“We’re just kidding, Sianna.” I smiled and she stuck her tongue out at me.
I liked that we could still be friends and the tension between us had seized to exist. Yet each time I looked at my father, I could see a glimpse of apprehension others couldn’t and I knew it stemmed from him still feeling bad about the whole situation. His response to Lorenzo, though, kept me mildly surprised. While part of me thought he was just grateful I’d moved on, I sensed it was more a case of him being who he’d always been. A fucking awesome father. Both Kyra and I could and would never complain.
“You ready to go, baby boy?” Lorenzo came up behind me and placed a hand at my lower back.
I balked literally feeling the heat creep up my neck into my cheeks as I took in Tamara, Sianna and Kyra’s mixture of shocked gasps and dropped jaws.
“Baby boy? Well, swoonfuckingme,” Tamara cupped her cheeks, her eyes stuck on Lorenzo.
“OMG. I have never seen my brother blush this hard.” Kyra bit her lower lip to hide her chuckle.
“I’ve got freaking goosebumps.” Sianna rubbed her arms.
Next to me, Lorenzo let out a husky laugh, one I’d only heard in the bedroom and I looked up at him. He leaned in close to my ear. “If you want me to stop, forget it.” He drew back with a wink.
“If you ladies are done making my son squirm, can we at least feed them before they leave.” Dad scolded lightly and I gave him a grateful look which he returned with a knowing smile.
As they all nodded and walked to the table, Lorenzo hung back with his hand on my waist to keep me next to him. “Are you okay? You look a little flustered.”
I looked up at him. “I guess I never imagined this.”
“What?”
“You, me, my family, me being...” I searched for the right word.
“Happy,” he finished instead. I nodded. Where I was nervous as fuck, Lorenzo was calm and it gave me a subtle strength I grabbed with every breath. “It’s only going to get better, you know that, right?”
I couldn’t stop the crease in my brow. “How can you tell?”
“Like this.” And right there, in front of my entire family, Lorenzo leaned forward and kissed me. Not a brush of his lips over mine but a deep entanglement of tongue and teeth that I returned.
“Oh, my fucking God,” Tamara’s long-drawn-out call, followed with, “sorry, mom, dad,” blending with Kyra’s whistle drew us apart and we both looked at them. Me blushing like a fucking girl and Lorenzo grinning as if he just didn’t give me a hard-on of note. “Make me jealous, why don’t you, Rayden.” My aunt faked a pout. “I’ve never seen two men, so masculine, so beautifully strong, kiss but God Almighty it’s the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen and that’s saying a lot.”
